In Irkutsk, Gryaznov Street is planned to be turned into a protected historic zone and restored to its late 19th early 20th century appearance. About one million rubles are planned for reconstruction of the section between Timiryazeva and Dzerzhinsky, and some houses may be relocated or repaired. If the project succeeds, it will become a pilot for creating new museum historic zones in the city.

Formerly 3rd Soldiers’ Street, and now Gryaznov Street, is one of the central streets in Irkutsk. It was built up in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and since then most of the buildings here have not been repaired, so the street, with its leaning houses and windows sunk into the ground, looks rather shabby. But very soon the situation is expected to change: it has been decided to turn Gryaznov Street into a protected historical zone. Funding for the project is to be allocated in the second half of the year. The estimated amount is one million rubles from the city budget.
The task of the project developers is to restore the street’s original historical appearance. So far, only the building at 22 Gryaznov has regained its original look. The renovation was carried out by the administration of the Taltsy Museum after it moved into this house. Ideally, the same should happen with all the properties, explains Kseniya Kuznetsova, head of the monuments protection department of the city architecture office. Most of them will be income-generating properties, but residential buildings will remain on the street as well. Now all that remains is to resolve the issue with the owners and tenants of the apartments.
"We will need to meet specifically with the residents of each building. Some of the buildings will be included in our program for resettling residents from dilapidated and unsafe housing, and for the remaining buildings we will carry out major repairs. We are considering the option of co-financing from the regional and local budgets," said Kseniya Kuznetsova, head of the department for the protection of historical and cultural monuments of the Irkutsk city architecture department.
For now, the plans include only the reconstruction of the section of Gryaznov Street between Timiryazev and Dzerzhinsky. It is possible that later this part will even be made pedestrian-only and paved with cobblestones. The exact dates for the start of restoration and resettlement are still unknown. By the way, local residents themselves are positive about the idea of creating a street-museum.
Gryaznov Street is a pilot project for creating a special tourist zone. If everything works out, then in the future the streets Zhelyabov, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Babushkin, and Karl Liebknecht may also be turned into museum-historical zones.